When everything changes
by Saoirse24
Summary: NO GODS! Everyone Is mortal in this story! The gang are going of to college but they don't know each other yet, then when tragedy strikes will they be able to pull each other from the ashes? Or will they crumble under the pressure? Read and find out! Rated T for slightly disturbing scenes.


**Hi guys this is something that I wrote in english and so I thought I'd carry it on as a story! Really hope you enjoy, please Read and Review :D DISCLAIMER! I own nothing! (except maybe this version :) ) It was all Rick Riordan.**

**Ok so there are no gods, demigods or monsters. Everyone is mortal! The gang have just finishing collage but no one know each other yet! then the worst happens and their worlds turn upside down ;) Rated T to be safe, sorry if this first chapter is a bit gory!**

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**CHAPTER ONE**

**Annabeths POV;**

The bang is deafening.

The casual silence broken by a devastating raw.

I lay there; panic-stricken, shocked and wounded as chaos unravels around me. The now open sky above blackening with smoke as the red bus burns, screams directing from all directions.

Then for a moment the world seems to stand still. There is no noise save for the crackling of fire around me. My head pounds with pain and I slowly - careful not to jar my aching body any further - move my hand towards my head. The oozing scarlet blood that stains my skin makes my heart stop and my mouth run dry, the sickly colour glaring at me through thick clouds of smoke.

Then all of a sudden it appears, as if it's knocked down the shock and disbelief, all the things my body had tried to protect me with and all I feel is pain.

My spine erupts in agony, searing me inside and out. The throbbing in my head intensifies, until all I can hear is a dull beat playing in my ears.

I try to move, to bend, to shift, trying to get away from the pain that is consuming me.

I can't.

My immobility terrifies me and panic begins to build with the pain.

I try to move my fingers, toes, arms, legs but I can't feel them. I look down frantically, horrified at what I might find. The relief that fills me when I see that my body is in fact still attached is indescribable. The relief is quickly washed away though, as my mind comes out of its daze and begins to work out what the hell happened.

I move my head slowly from where I lay still amongst the carnage. The bus is in turmoil. The clean, bright, inviting bus that I had gotten onto that very morning was destroyed. I was unprepared for the sight in front of me, the sudden change making my head spin.

The walls of the bus are in pieces, a cynical black. Far from the warm, welcoming red it had once been. The seats were alight and burning. The patchwork material seat covers turning black, brown and crispy with the flames vivid attention. The windows are gone, the shattered remains balancing precariously on the deformed window ledge.

There is a pain filled screech from somewhere close by and I gently turn my head in that direction, ignoring the jolt of pain I feel as I stretch my aching muscles.

When my head is turned I begin to look for the source of the sound, my eyes twisting wildly in their sockets, nothing. I look again, desperate now, begging myself to look harder.

There.

Amongst the fire and the caved in walls is something I had first dismissed as a charred chair. It wriggles in pain, small whimpers coming from it. Its burnt skin crunching as it shifts.

Bile rises in my throat at the sickening site before me and I close my eyes tightly, praying that when they open I'll wake up at home and this will all have been a terrible dream but when I open my eyes my nightmare is still real.

I'm still on this bus, I still can't feel my own limbs and there is still a charred body lying five feet away from me, trapped in a metal cage made of bus walls and glass.

My eyes rom over the body, horrified.

The skin is a midnight black, crispy and pealing in great chunks. The hair is gone save for a few withering strands. The hair is long, very long and I can only assume this is a woman, a helpless, dying woman.

I see her melted lips part as another scream fills my ears and I feel guilty. Whatever pain I feel now is nowhere near what she must be going through.

The feeling that overcomes me then is a fierce protectiveness and my parental instincts kick in. whether or not she's a child, she's in pain and I'm going to be there so she knows she's not alone.

Ignoring the burning pain I lift myself up onto my left elbow and steady myself on the uneven ground. My head is spinning, my body screaming in protest and I feel like I'll throw up any second yet I'm smiling. I moved! My body feels heavy and unresponsive but I don't care. I moved and that's all that matters.

A whimper comes from the woman's direction and all thoughts of my mobility are lost and my determination is back.

Slowly but surely I begin to shuffle. Dragging myself across the floor, ignoring the pain from the glass in my palms, I make my way towards her. It feels like an eternity before I finally reach her side.

She lays there. Battered but breathing. Her shallow breaths turning to gasp as she tries desperately to get some air into her lungs. I settle myself down next to her, letting my body relax. Then I reach up my arm (noticing for the first time how bloody it is) and make for her hand. Her skin crunches under my hand and I pull back slightly.

The woman opens her eyes slowly, shocked by the new feeling, her burnt and melted skin creating a horrific picture. She watches me as I look at her, bewildered.

I reach for her hand again but this time I don't pull away. Not when her charred skin crumbles beneath my fingertips. Nor when we both wince at the sound it makes.

We lay there, hands tight and stare at each other. The woman attempts to smile and I do to because I know I did the right thing. She got the message.

She's not alone.

We laid there together till the rescuers came, holding hands tightly, both needing the reassurance that only another being could bring.

As they took us away on stretchers I finally let go. Letting my body do what it wanted and fell into a blissful oblivion.


End file.
